Friday, August 14, 2009

Little Sheep Hot Pot - Eating Unseasonally

Eating unseasonally has its own benefits.The biggest benefit I enjoyed was...not having to queue for hours to get a seat.It's summer and hotpot is...well...hot. So, since not many people were crazy enough to sweat, cry and gasp while dealing with hot food, boiling on a hot stove, in a super hot soup, getting a table was a breeze.In winter, good luck! Even with a reservation, you'd still have to wait (for quite a long time) to get seated.

Of course, it's not all rainbows and flowers...Due to one too many hot and spicy food in hot weather....Arrrgghhhhhh...the joy of eating unseasonally is taking its toll on my skin.

My body was telling me to stop, but my brain, heart and soul, in unison, told me to continue.Oh well, big hairy deal. My skin will heal, the show must go on.

First thing's first. Let's start with the cutenesses...Everything in the place has cute little sheep icon on, including the stove! How adorable! I want one of these...

Is it just me, or the server lady's top is totally cute? Can I get a part time job there to get this top?

Now, the usual dilemma...ala carte or all you can eat?We were damn hungry, so we went with the "all you can eat" option. Plus, if you can't read Chinese, it's good being able to tick whatever boxes on this page, without the risk of having to remortgage the flat.

Another plus, I saw a table of little buffet and I couldn't resist not having an access to ransack it.During my previous visits to Little Sheep, I haven't seen any "all you can eat" or buffet option once. Is the economy that bad? Or it is just their new brilliant concept to lure buffet suckers like me? The buffet spread boasts a couple of cooked dishes, a couple of hotpot items, desserts and fruits.

The stars of the buffet spread were...This super tender and juicy chicken with spicy bits, double delish! I blurred the chicken head so that you won't get too freaked out.

Check out our yin-yang soup, herbal non spicy on one side, hot and spicy on the other side.Look at how fiery the spicy side was.At first, you won't feel a thing, just yumminess. The real heat will only hit you half way through your meal. Soon after that, you may not be able to feel your tongue. Hehe.

I learnt a little trick to make the spicy soup enjoyable a little longer...Scoop out most of the dry chilli pieces, place them in a clean bowl, add bit by bit back later when you felt that the soup isn't spicy enough. If you accidentally scooped out some other spices, throw them back in.

Did we order a lot of yumminess?You bet your ass we did. I'd like to highlight the tasty lamb dumplings (lamb xiao long bao) and their lamb juice squirting goodness!

Another hot soup absorbing champion, the frozen tofu. We threw these babies into the non spicy soup once the hot soup got too hot to handle.

...and is there anything more beautiful than these meat "petals"?

Some meat dishes cost additional $10 per order, even under the "all you can eat" scheme. However, the portion is huge, it's totally worth it.

Classic hotpot pose....Food in front of faces!

Did we bite more than we could chew? Just like what people do under most "all you can eat" situations?We didn't.

and having something cold, sweet and refreshing after a spicy meal......just like this flower jelly....perfection.

Enjoy now, suffer later :p

All you can eat hotpot + a few meat $10 meat dishes + bottles of SKOL beer = HK$184 per person

locm, i tried frozen tofu for the first time at little sheep. i was amazed by its capability to absorb flavors, unlike the normal soft tofu. the frozen bits create "space" in between the tofu to absorb flavor, making the texture a little like tofu puff. they're absolutely wonderful!

hi justin, opppps. sorry about that :p

kenny...yes hotpot is the best! those chillies made my face so "colorful" now :p